Arthur's New Sister and May's Secret
by truearthurfan
Summary: Part 2 of the May & Arthur series. May becomes Arthur's sister and on a school feildtrip to Whale Lake, May's secret is revealed when she saves her classmates from an angry bear. How will everyone react when they learn May's no ordanairy girl?


Arthur

Arthur's New Sister/May's Secret

Original Name: Melina Saramaku Tatakashi

Cover Name: May Maruka Akatsuki

Adoptive Name: May Read

Age: 7 ½, going on 8

Abilities: Morphing, Being able to see and hear Nadine and understand Babies, Animals and Toys

Attitude: Outgoing, Shy and Determined

Friends: Arthur, D.W., Mr. and Mrs. Read, Kate, Grandma Thora, Grandpa Dave, Pal, Nadine, Buster, Francine, The Brain, Sue Ellen, Muffy, Binky, Mei—Lin, Prunella, Jenna, Vecita, Alberto, Amigo, Bubby, etc.

Secret Agency Protection: C.R.U. Children Relocation Unit

Weapon: My Whole Body

Epilogue

Hi. It's me, Arthur again. Ever since May came into my life, things have been very interesting. She plays with D.W., which means D.W. isn't bothering me but she even helps D.W. play tricks on me. Some strange things have happened though. Sometimes when I went to her room to ask her something I'd find a cat or dog on her bed. Then the dog or cat would run out the window and May would come in a few seconds later. I wonder why animals seem to like her room so much.

"Arthur, could you come and help me?"

"What is it now, May?"

"D.W. got her head stuck in the space between the stair polls again."

See? Never a dull moment. And I have a feeling that things a just going to get better.

May's Secret

The snow all over Elwood City had melted. The secret about my condition had got out during the week I was away, so everyone knew what had happened.

'So you're all better?' Francine asked as we walked into the classroom.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' I said smiling.

The bell went and we all sat down at our desks. Principle Haney walked in.

'I wonder what Principle Haney's doing here,' I whispered to Francine. 'And where's Mr. Ratburn?'

'Children, I'm afraid I have some bad news,' Principle Haney said, standing at the front of the class. 'Mr. Ratburn has caught a cold and won't be teaching you for this week. Your substitute—teacher should be here shortly. You can use this time to finish any homework you haven't completed yet.'

He walked out, closing the door behind him. Everyone started talking excitedly.

'I wonder what the substitute will be like,' I said, thinking.

The door opened and we all turned. Standing there was a woman who looked a lot like Mr. Ratburn. A groan went through the class. I looked around, confused.

'What's everyone groaning about?' I asked Francine.

'That's Mr. Ratburn's sister,' she said to me. For some reason, she looked really disappointed.

'Oh,' I said, thinking I understood. 'Did they compete with each other since childhood or something?'

'No, no,' Arthur said from across the desk. 'They're complete opposites.'

'Huh?' I said, taken by surprise.

'The last time we had Ms Ratburn as our substitute she—' Arthur began.

'That's enough talking,' Ms Ratburn said happily, making us jump.

She smiled at me.

'And who are you?' she asked kindly.

'May Akatsuki, Miss,' I said, only half focused. I was wondering what Arthur had been about to tell me.

'It's very nice to meet you, May,' Ms Ratburn said smiling at me.

I couldn't help noticing it was the same smile adults had given me back when I was two. Hey, I've got a good memory, okay?

'But Akatsuki is such a _big_ word,' she said, walking to the front. 'So I'll call you May Suki instead, okay?'

'_Uh, no,_' I thought, slightly annoyed. That was my culture she was talking about shortening.

'Okay, everyone,' Ms Ratburn said, smiling at all of us. 'Since it's been so long, I think we'll start by reciting the two times tables.'

A groan went through the class. I was included in it. We were in the third grade, and she was making us recite the _two_ times tables? What did she think, that we were in preschool? Arthur was right. Ms Ratburn was the _exact_ opposite of her brother.

'Excuse me, Miss,' I said, raising my head.

'Yes?' Ms Ratburn said, looking at me and smiling.

'Couldn't you ask us to recite our... I don't know... nine times tables?' I said, doing my best to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

'Oh, I couldn't do that,' Ms Ratburn said, looking shocked.

'Why?' I asked, stopping myself from narrowing my eyes.

'Well, those are too hard, silly billy,' she said, smiling.

Another groan went throughout the class. I was included again. After we'd sluggishly recited the two times tables, Ms Ratburn tested us on the names of animals. As we got passed Cat, Dog, Fish, etc, I looked up at the clock. Was I just imagining that it had slowed down? It couldn't have only been five minutes since class started. It felt as if it had been two hours. When the day was finally over, we all rushed out of the class room.

'That was the most boring day of school in my whole life,' I exclaimed as Arthur and I headed home.

When we got home the car was parked in the driveway. That meant Mr. and Mrs. Read were home.

'We're home,' Arthur called, as we took our backpacks off and left them by the door.

'That's great,' D.W. said, hurrying from the kitchen, grabbing my hand and pulling me. 'Mom and Dad have something to tell you.'

We went into the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Read and Grandma Thora were all standing there, smiling.

'Go on, tell her,' D.W. told them, smiling.

Mrs. Read bent down and smiled at me.

'Well, it's official,' she said, looking at me.

'You mean...?' I said anxiously.

'Uh-huh,' she said, closing her eyes, still smiling. 'You are now officially a member of the Read family.'

'Yahoo!' Arthur and D.W. cried.

I just stood there, crying with joy.

'I have a family again,' I whispered, smiling. 'I finally have a family again.'

'And now _I_ have an older sister who'll do everything with me!' D.W. said happily, jumping up and hugging me.

I couldn't stop smiling all night. This was the best day of my life.

When we got to school the next day I told everyone the news.

'Alright,' Buster said, slapping me a high-five.

Principle Haney walked in.

'Hey, it's Principle Haney,' Sue Ellen said as we all took our seats. 'I wonder what's going on.'

'Children, I'm afraid I have some bad news,' Principle Haney said, standing at the front of the class.

'Ms Ratburn has caught Mr. Ratburn's cold and won't be teaching you today.'

We all cheered. Mr Haney cleared his throat and we quickly settled down.

'Yes,' he said, straightening his tie. 'Luckily, Mr. Ratburn has made a miraculous recovery.'

As Mr. Ratburn walked in we all cheered again.

'Alright, alright,' Mr. Ratburn said, waving his hand. 'Quiet down, please.'

We all quietened down.

'Now, we'll have to make up for the work you missed out on yesterday,' Mr. Ratburn said, pulling some papers out of his briefcase.

No one objected. In fact, we welcomed it. When school was over, we left feeling great. We'd had to really use our brains today. All the questions Mr. Ratburn had given us had been really hard. And we'd loved it.

'We're home,' Arthur and I called out as we walked through the door, putting our pack down.

'Alright,' D.W. said happily, running in from the lounge room and grabbing my hand. 'Will you play tea party with me and Nadine? Please?'

'D.W.,' Arthur said, shaking his head. 'May and I have a lot of homework to do tonight. She can't waste her time playing—'

'It's alright, Arthur,' I said, smiling.

'Huh?' Arthur said, taken by surprise.

'I'll gladly play tea party with you and Nadine, D.W.,' I said, smiling.

'Really?' D.W. said, as we headed upstairs to her home. 'Arthur never wants to play tea party with me. He'll only play if Mom tells him to.'

Arthur watched us, shaking his head.

'I'll never understand girls,' he said, walking into the kitchen.

'Nadine!' D.W. called, cupping her hands over her mouth as we entered her room.

Nadine appeared in front of us in a sparkling swirl.

'Hello, Nadine,' I said, smiling.

'Huh?' Nadine said, looking confused.

'Huh?' D.W. said, looking from one of us to the other. 'You can see her?'

'Yep,' I said, closing my eyes and smiling.

'How do I know you're not lying?' D.W. asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. 'Arthur said he could see Nadine once, but he was just pretending.'

'Small girl, wearing a blue dress, blonde hair, tied up in a ponytail,' I said grinning.

'D.W., she _can_ see me,' Nadine said, astounded.

'But... how?' D.W. said, looking at me with amazement. 'No one else ever seems to see her?'

'Well, I'm not like most people,' I said, closing my eyes, still smiling.

'You're the first person older than D.W. to ever see me,' Nadine said as we all sat down at the little table.

'Why thank you, Nadine,' I said.

Suddenly I started coughing.

'May, are you okay?' Nadine asked concerned.

'I—' I began, holding my throat, my voice a hoarse whisper.

'May, what's wrong?' D.W. asked, worried now.

'I think... I'm losing... my...' Nothing came out. I kept trying to say something, but all that came out were some graveling sounds.

'Mom, Mom!' D.W. cried.

'What is it, D.W.?' Mom said urgently, running into the room.

'Something's wrong with May?' D.W. said urgently.

'May, what's wrong?' Mom asked, looking at me.

I tried to speak, holding my throat.

'Oh, dear,' she said, looking worried. 'Come downstairs, honey.'

She indicated for me to follow. I got up and did so. D.W. followed us out of her room. Arthur was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

'What's going on?' he asked, as Mom and I got downstairs.

'I think May's lost her voice,' Mom said as we passed him and headed into the kitchen.

The next morning I didn't go to school. I had an appointment with Doctor Bailey.

'Okay,' Doctor Bailey said, holding a throat torch. 'Say, 'ah'.'

'Ah,' I said, my voice sounding like broken flute.

'Hmm,' Doctor Bailey said, looking down my throat.

He straightened up.

'Looks like laryngitis,' he said, looking at Mom.

'Oh, dear,' Mom said, looking at me.

I looked down sadly.

When D.W. came home from preschool I was sitting on the couch, wearing my white nightdress, reading the Scare Your Pants Off Book, Blood Sucking Beavers Of Bavaria, that Arthur had lent me a few days ago. Even though I was reading it, I had a sad look on my face.

'So, what did the doctor say,' she asked me, taking her backpack off and sitting next to me.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head.

'Huh?' D.W. asked, confused.

'Doctor Bailey said May has laryngitis,' Mom said, walking in. 'She probably won't be able to talk for a couple of days.'

'Oh,' D.W. said, turning in time to see me sighing quietly.

'Don't worry, May,' she said, smiling. 'When I lost my voice, I got it back in no time.'

'Yes, and Arthur was the first to hear it,' Mom said, frowning a little at D.W.

D.W. gave a nervous laugh.

Three days passed and I still hadn't got my voice back. Luckily, I was a much better mime than D.W., so if I mimed to someone they generally knew what I meant. Plus if I wrote down what I wanted, people were actually able to read it. On the third day I was sitting in bed. Mom had told me it was better if I stayed in bed. As I sat there, reading one of Arthur's Bionic Bunny comics, Pal ran into the room, Kate crawling in behind him.

I smiled at them as they reached my bed.

'You still can't talk, May?' Kate asked.

I shook my head sadly.

'That's a shame,' Pal said, hopping up onto the foot of my bed.

I leaned down, picking up Kate and putting her on the bed too.

'I'm really starting to miss the sound of your voice,' Pal said, shaking his head.

'Don't worry, May,' Kate said, crawling forward and putting her small hand on mine. 'You'll get your voice back. I know it.'

I gave a small smile.

Mom walked by my room with a basket of laundry. She saw Kate and Pal on my bed. She was about to say something, when she saw Kate crawl forward and place her hand on mine and I gave a small smile. Then Pal walked forward, and nuzzled under my right arm. Mom smiled, and left, not wanting to disturb us.

When Arthur came home, Francine and Buster were with him. When they came into my room, I was sitting in bed, finishing off the Scare Your Pants Off Book I'd been reading three days ago.

'How's it going, May?' Francine asked as we walked in.

I tried to speak but a gurgling sound came out instead. I looked away sadly.

'So you really have lost your voice,' Buster said, surprised.

I frowned.

'Not that I thought you were faking or anything,' Buster said quickly.

'We brought you your homework,' Arthur said, pulling some papers out his backpack and handing them to me.

I put the papers on my bedside table, put my hands together and gave a small bow.

'Huh?' Buster said, looking at Arthur.

'It's one of the ways the Japanese say thank you,' he said smiling.

'Oh,' Buster said, still looking a little confused.

'So, how has it been, with May not a having voice?' Francine asked, as they all sat down on the couch a minute later.

'Not as bad as with D.W., surely?' Buster said.

'Yeah,' Arthur said, thinking. 'Actually it hasn't been too bad. May hardly ever rings the bell Mom gave her.'

That night I went to sleep, wondering if my voice would ever come back. I dreamt I was in a field of flowers back in Japan. My parents were there too. My Dad was a kind looking man with blonde hair, wearing a tuxedo and my mum looked like an older version of me, wearing a green kimono with pink sakura patterns. I was sitting on a rock, wearing the kimono I'd worn on my first day at school.

'What if I never get my voice back?' I asked them, looking up.

'I do not know, dear,' my mom said, smiling. 'But that is not what you really dreamt us here for, is it?'

I gave a small smile. Mom had always known when something else was on my mind.

'Should I tell everyone?' I asked, looking at her. 'The truth I mean? About me? About our family's secret?'

'That is entirely up to you,' Mom said, kissing my forehead.

I slept peacefully that night.

The next morning I woke up and stretched in bed. As I put my hand down on the bedside table, I pricked my finger on a small piece of wood that was jutting out.

'Ow!' I said in surprise.

My eyes widened.

'I can talk again!' I cried happily, jumping out of bed.

'Yahoo!' I yelled, sliding down the stair banister and landing on my feet.

I ran into the kitchen, where everyone was eating breakfast.

'Mom, Dad, Arthur, D.W., I got my voice back!' I happily exclaimed.

'Alright,' Arthur said happily.

'Yahoo!' D.W. shouted, jumping up and down on her seat.

'Thank goodness,' Mom said, sighing.

Kate laughed, clapping her hands.

Pal barked happily.

When I went back to school on Monday I got a surprise. We were going on an overnight camping trip in the woods by Whale Lake on Wednesday. I couldn't believe how lucky I'd been to get my voice back so soon.

May's Secret

Everyone was standing in the schoolyard. The bus was in the parking lot.

'Have fun, you two,' Mom said, hugging me and Arthur.

'Don't cause Mr. Ratburn any trouble, now,' Dad said, smiling.

'We will Mom, we won't Dad,' Arthur and I said in unison, answering both of them in order.

Mr. Ratburn blew his whistle.

'Everyone on the bus,' he called.

'Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad,' we said, grabbing our bags and running over to the bus.

'Oh, May,' Mom called, running over and stopping me just as I was getting on the bus. 'This came for you from Japan.'

She handed me a long, thin package.

My eyes lit up and I hugged her.

'Thanks Mom,' I said, letting go and getting on the bus as the doors closed.

Everyone was waving as the bus started.

'Don't let D.W. go into my room while we're gone, okay?' Arthur called out the window as the bus drove off.

'So, May, what'd your Mom give you?' Buster asked looking behind him as I sat down.

I unwrapped the package. It was a sheathed Katana. Golden symbols of dragons surrounded the dark-marron sheath.

'It's a Katana,' Sue Ellen said, walking over from the other side of the bus.

'Katana?' Binky said, looking at Sue Ellen. 'That sounds like some kind of disease. Why would Mrs. Read give May that?'

I laughed.

'No, Binky, a Katana is a traditional Japanese sword,' I said, unsheathing it.

'Wow,' everyone said, staring at it.

The hilt of the sword was golden, encrusted with Diamonds, Sapphires, Emeralds and Rubies. The blade itself looked as if it was made of gold.

'It used to belong to my Dad, back in Japan,' I said, re-sheathing it, and putting the Katana in my backpack. The bottom half stuck out, too big to put all the way in.

'So why'd _you_ get it?' Binky asked, confused.

'Because...' I said, looking away, my voice trailing off. 'In his will... he said he gave it to me.'

'Oh,' Binky said, realizing what I meant. 'Sorry.'

'It's okay,' I said, brushing a tear from my left eye.

'I guess Mom gave it to you because it's a piece of your past,' Arthur said, thinking.

'Yeah,' I said softly, closing my eyes and smiling.

An hour later we were at Whale Lake.

'Alright, everyone, off the bus,' Mr. Ratburn said, walking off the bus and standing next to the door.

Everyone started hurrying out. Mr. Ratburn blew his whistle.

'Single file,' he called out. 'And when you have gotten off the bus, please collect you things and meet over there.'

He pointed to an area in the trees where there were three sets of wooden benches and tables.

'So, when are you going to use your sword, huh, May?' Binky asked me as we got off the bus.

'I won't ever be using it, Binky,' I said as the bus door closed and it drove off.

'What?' Binky said, looking at me in shock. 'Why?'

'It's a display sword,' Sue Ellen said, standing next to me. 'Just because it's a family heirloom, doesn't mean that it's meant to be used.'

'Oh,' Binky said, scratching his head. 'I don't get it.'

I shook my head and we walked over to the benches, sitting down as Mr. Ratburn explained the rules.

'We must remember to respect nature while we're here,' Mr. Ratburn was saying.

He noticed Buster drop a chocolate bar wrapper.

'That means _no_ littering,' he said, looking at Buster and pointing to the wrapper. Buster gave a nervous laugh, picking it and putting it in his jacket's left pocket.

'Now, you'll all be in groups,' Mr. Ratburn said, pulling a note pad from over his shoulder. 'When I call your name, join the rest of your group. Muffy, Francine, Jenna, Sue Ellen and May, you'll be group one.'

We all joined up at the table nearest the trees.

'This is going to be great,' Muffy said excitedly.

'Yeah, tell me about,' Francine said, just as excited. 'Camping near a lake is gonna be so cool.'

'It's a very soothing sound to fall asleep to,' Sue Ellen agreed. 'Whenever my family were on a cruise, I fell fast asleep to the sound of the slow, splashing water.'

Jenna started feeling like she really needed the toilet. I didn't notice it because I'd started feeling like that too.

'Gotta use the bathroom,' we said in unison. We quickly ran off.

When we came back the others had already put the tent up.

'You started without us,' Jenna said, a little hurt.

'Well, we thought it'd save time,' Francine said, looking at us.

We heard Mr. Ratburn's whistle, so this conversation would have to wait til later. We hurried over to where everyone else was. It was lunch time so we all sat down, opened our bags took out our packed lunches and ate. Muffy, naturally, had a five star lunch prepared by her family's chef. A fresh garden salad, a bottle of fresh mountain spring water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich may not _sound_ fancy, but the peanut butter was imported from Siberia and the jelly was imported from France. While we all ate our lunches Mr. Ratburn explained that we'd be having a barbeque dinner and that after lights out, no one was to leave their group's tent. After everyone had finished lunch we went back to our tent to finish setting up for the night. We opened our sleeping bags, laying them inside the tent.

After everyone was done setting up Mr. Ratburn said we were free to explore the area around the lake.

Sue Ellen and I went looking for bugs and animals. As I looked inside a bush in between two trees, I saw a red butterfly with a lace pattern on its wings. It landed on my nose and I stood up slowly.

'Sue Ellen,' I said excitedly.

'What?' Sue Ellen asked, turning from the tree she just been looking up into.

She gasped.

'That's not possible,' she said walking over, holding out her finger.

The butterfly walked off of my nose and onto her finger.

'A Red Lace-wing butterfly,' I said, blinking. 'But they're meant to be unique to China. What's one doing here?'

'What's one what doing here?' Binky asked, making us jump.

The butterfly flew off of Sue Ellen's finger and passed Binky.

'What?' Binky gasped, staring as the butterfly passed him. 'That was a— '

'Red Lace-wing butterfly,' we said, nodding.

At that moment a tongue lashed at the butterfly and it was pulled into a frog's mouth.

'Well, there goes the first Red Lace-wing butterfly to be found outside of China,' I sighed.

'Aw, man,' Binky said, stomping his right foot on the ground. 'The first time I see a Red Lace-wing and it gets eaten by a frog. What rotten luck.' With that he walked off in a huff.

When night came, so did the barbeque. It was great. There were sausages and burgers and salads. Mr. Ratburn sure knew how to host a barbeque. After the barbeque was over, we all helped clean up. As I put the last of the paper plates in a bin I remembered something. I ran back to mine, Muffy, Francine, Jenna and Sue Ellen's tent and opened me bag.

'Oh, no,' I whispered, looking through it and pulling out a small, round device. 'The batteries are dead. That means I'll have to wear—'

I paused and quickly stuck my head out of the tent, looking around. Most of the kids who'd come on the camp were heading off to their tents, but I could see Arthur, Buster, Brain, Binky, Muffy, Francine, Jenna, Sue Ellen, Fern and Mr. Ratburn were still by the campfire. I quickly opened a small pouch inside my bag. Inside it were two white pull-ups.

'I really hoped I wouldn't have to use these,' I said, taking one out and holding it up.

This had been the one thing I'd made the agency swear not even to tell Grandma Thora or Mom and Dad. That I suffered from nocturnal enuresis. That's a fancy way of saying I still occasionally wet the bed. At that moment, Francine, Muffy and Jenna walked into the tent. I whirled around in fright.

'May?' Francine said, looking from me to the pull-up in my hands. 'You still use a pull-up?'

I sighed.

'Yes,' I said, looking away. 'I still wet the bed, sometimes. Go ahead and laugh.'

'Why would we do that?' she asked, shocked.

'Yeah, I mean, I still wet the bed sometimes myself,' Jenna said, sitting down.

'You do?' I said, turning around and looking at her.

'It's nothing to be embarrassed about,' Francine said, sitting down too. 'I still had to use pull-ups not that long ago myself.'

'I was almost done with them back in Japan,' I said, looking down. 'But after my parents died...'

'It became harder again,' Francine said, nodding.

She understood. She knew having my parents die must had put a lot of stress on me. Though she really didn't know the half of it. No one did. No one... except me.

'Don't worry,' Jenna said, smiling. 'We'll keep it a secret.'

At that moment screams came from outside.

'That sounded like it was coming from the campfire,' Francine said as the three of us jumped up and ran out the tent, towards where the campfire was.

'And it didn't sound like a scary story scream,' Jenna said, me running right next to her.

From where we were I could see what was happening as we ran. A wild bear was standing on its hind legs, looming over the campfire.

'_I've got to save everyone from that bear,_' I thought, running faster. '_I've no choice._'

I morphed into a mountain lion, charging towards the bear.

'What?' Francine and Jenna cried, stopping as I charged at the bear.

I ran in front of the bear, blocking its path to the others.

'A mountain lion?' Mr. Ratburn cried.

I roared at the bear and it roared back angrily.

'Leave them alone,' I warned the bear in animal talk.

'No, I'm hungry!' the bear roared at me.

'Then you'll have to get through me,' I growled, charging.

The bear slashed at me, tearing three long gashes in my left front leg above the elbow. I roared in pain. Then I spun around, leaped up and sunk my teeth into its neck. The bear roared, throwing my off. I slammed down in front of the others. The bear ran off, defeated. Everyone watched in amazement as I changed back into me.

'I guess I've got some explaining to do,' I said, turning around, holding my arm and looking at everyone as Muffy, Francine and Jenna hurried over...

'You're an alien?' Buster cried, looking at me in amazement a few minutes later. 'A real live alien?'

'No, Buster— ah!' I said, shaking my head and grimacing as Jenna wrapped a bandage around my arm where the bear had slashed at it.

'Sorry about that,' Jenna said, continuing to wrap the bandage around my arm.

'No problem,' I said, smiling and then looking back at the others. 'My great grandmother was an alien. I'm only one sixteenth alien, on my mother's side.'

'What kind of alien?' Arthur asked, looking at me.

'I don't know,' I said, shaking my head. 'After she had my grandma, great grandmother placed her in an orphanage and no one ever saw her again.'

'So, how come you came to Elwood City?' Muffy asked.

'The agency that sent me to Elwood City has a side business,' I said firmly. 'Alien protection. And since I'm part alien...'

'It was their job to protect you?' Francine asked.

'That's right,' I said, nodding. 'Having one sixteenth of alien D.N.A. means I can change my shape.'

'Fascinating,' Mr. Ratburn said, looking at me.

'You all have to promise you won't tell anyone else, okay?' I said, looking around at them all. 'If anyone else finds out about me, I'll have to leave Elwood City and all evidence that I was there will be erased.'

Everyone promised.

'There,' Jenna said, finishing off bandaging my arm.

'Thanks, Jenna,' I said, smiling. 'Now I just have to figure out how Arthur and I are going to explain all of this to Mom and Dad.'

Everyone burst out laughing.

Later on in the tent the girls and I were playing truth or dare.

'So, May,' Muffy said, looking at me. 'Truth or dare?'

'Dare,' I said, grinning.

I had a feeling that, since everyone in this tent knew about my abilities, this dare would include me using them. All I could think was bring it on!

'I dare you to turn into a snake and crawl up Binky's pyjama shirt,' Muffy said, grinning.

'Ew!' we all cried and then laughed.

'Can I change to truth?' I asked. I really didn't want to crawl into Binky's pyjamas.

'Nope,' Muffy said, grinning.

'Oh,' I sighed, shaking my head and grinning. Guess I'd asked for that one. 'Fine. But I'll get you back, Muffy Crosswire. Mark my word.'

I changed into a tiny, non poisonous tree snake and slithered out of the tent. The girls waited for a few minutes.

'Snake!' Binky's voice cried.

The girl's ran out of the tent.

Binky was hopping around outside his tent, shaking his legs as if he was doing some new kind of dance. The girls couldn't stop laughing. A snake dropped out of Binky's shirt and quickly slithered off into the bushes. A few seconds later I was standing behind the girls.

'Dare accomplished,' I grinned.

We all laughed, watching Binky jumping up and down, trying to find the elusive snake. After Binky had calmed down, and Mr. Ratburn had assured him that there was no snake in any of the tents, everyone went back to bed. The girls and I had laughed so much that it had made us really tired. We were all asleep as soon as we got into our sleeping bags.

When the morning came, I was the first to wake up. My pull-up was damp. I'd peed in my sleep again. I quickly took it off; put it into the plastic bag I'd brought for my dirty clothes and put it in the small pouch in my bag. Then I quickly got dressed and went out of the tent, breathing in the fresh morning air. Whale Lake shone brightly in the morning sunlight. A bird chirped happily in the tree above me. Once everyone else was up we had breakfast, toast with honey and butter, and packed up all our things and the tents. At 9 O'clock the bus arrived. We got on and it drove off.

An hour later the bus pulled up outside the school. But once we got off the bus our day wasn't over. It was still a Monday, which meant it was a school day. When we were back in the classroom Mr. Ratburn told us to write and essay about the trip and what we learned from it. It was clear though, that anyone who knew my secret wasn't allowed to write about it. At lunch I sat in the schoolyard with Arthur, Buster and Francine.

'So how often do you use your powers, May?' Francine asked, as we sat on the tyre- swings.

'Not too much,' I said, hanging upside down on the metal pole. 'Since neither Arthur, D.W., Mom or Dad knew about my powers I've had to be careful of when to use them.'

'That I can understand,' Francine said, nodding.

'So you don't even know what type of alien you great grandmother was?' Buster asked, looking up at me hanging there.

'No,' I said, shaking my head. 'My grandma never even knew. It was our family's darkest secret.'

'I wonder what she'd say if she knew how everything's turned out,' Arthur said, thinking.

Meanwhile, over by the playground, the Tough Customers, the school bullies were talking.

'So that May kid has a real Japanese sword?' Molly asked, interested.

'Well, yeah,' Binky said, leaning against the railing. 'It's called a Katana. It belonged to her family back in Japan.'

'Cool,' Molly said, smiling. 'Will she show us how to use it?'

'Not a chance,' Binky said, shaking his head.

'What?' Molly said, stunned.

'Why would someone own an authentic Japanese sword and never use it?' Rattles asked, confused.

'She said it was a family heirloom so she'll use it for display purposes only,' Binky said, shrugging.

'Well, we'll see about that,' Molly said, looking to the swings, where I was still hanging upside down, laughing at something Buster had just said.

When the bell went we all went inside. As I closed my locker, Molly and the other Tough Customers, including Binky, walked up to me.

'I hear you've got a traditional Japanese sword, kid,' Molly said, looking at me.

'Yeah,' I said slowly, picking up my bag and strapping it over my shoulder. 'So?'

'So?' Molly said, folding her arms. 'We wanna see it.'

I frowned.

'I don't think so,' I said, turning around.

'What?' Molly said tensely.

The others gasped.

'Did she just say 'no' to Molly?' Rattles asked, stunned.

'And why not?' Molly asked, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around.

'Because,' I said, staring firmly at her. 'It was my father's sword and I'll choose what to do with it?'

'Your Dad's, huh?' Molly said, looking at me. 'Why on earth would he give his sword to someone who'll never even use it?'

I stiffened, then glared at her.

'That would be none of your business, Molly,' I said, reaching up and taking her hand off my shoulder. 'If you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to.'

I turned around and started walking off.

'Talk about pathetic,' Molly said, loud enough for me to still hear. 'What kind of daughter takes a gift from her Dad and never uses it?'

I stopped, not turning around.

'Uh, Molly,' Binky said nervously.

'And if you've got a Dad in Japan, why on earth did you come here and let the Reads adopt you?' Molly continued. 'What kind of a daughter doesn't go and live with her real parents?'

I whirled around, tears streaming from my eyes.

'The kind that doesn't have parents to go back to,' I yelled, my voice choking.

'What?' Molly said, taken aback.

'Check your facts about people before saying something so stupid!' I yelled, dropping my books and bag. 'Then maybe you won't hurt people's feelings!'

I ran off crying down the hall and out the door.

'Wh—what just happened?' Molly asked, still not sure herself.

'Nice going, Molly,' Binky said angrily.

'What?' Molly asked, turning to look at him.

'Why else do you think the Reads adopted May?' Binky said, looking at her. 'She doesn't have any parents cause her real parents are dead.'

'What?' Molly asked, stunned.

'May never talks about, but she was with her parents when they died,' Binky said, looking away. 'And the way you were talking to her...' He turned to face Molly. 'Well, it was just wrong.'

'But I—' Molly said, looking down the hall I'd run down. 'I didn't know.'

'Yeah, I know,' Binky said, still frowning at her. 'But what you said really hurt her.'

'That was harsh, Moll,' Rattles said, frowning at her. 'Even for you. If I were you I'd go and apologize.'

He and the others walked off, heading for their classes. Molly watched them go, then turned to look down the hall. She sighed, ran down it and out the door. She looked around the schoolyard. She saw me sitting by the wall next to the cafeteria. My head was in my knees.

'Oh, man,' she said, guilt filling her stomach.

I sat, crying into my knees. I heard a sound and looked up. Molly was standing in front of me. I looked away, trying to wipe the tears from my eyes in vain. Molly sat down next to me.

'Look I—' she said, the guilt welling up inside of her. 'I'm sorry for what I said.'

I looked at her.

'I didn't know about your parents and I wasn't really thinking,' she continued, looking uncomfortable. 'And I shouldn't have said what I did in the first place.'

'Well, you're right about that,' I said, wiping my eyes and sniffing.

'I'm sorry for what I said,' Molly said, looking at me. 'I had no right to say such horrible things.'

I finished wiping my eyes and sniffed.

'It's okay,' I said, looking at her. 'You didn't know.'

'Well, still,' Molly said, looking at me. 'I shouldn't have said what I did in the first place.'

'It's alright,' I said, sniffing. 'You wanna be friends?'

Molly smiled.

'Sure,' she said, getting up. 'Now, come on. I'll tell Mr. Ratburn why you're late.'

And she did. When Mr. Ratburn asked where I'd been Molly quietly explained to him about what had happened in the hall. Mr. Ratburn wasn't pleased about how Molly had made me cry, but he was glad that we'd made up. After school was over Molly walked with me and Arthur. I'd asked her to and there was something I wanted her to know.

'So what's this big surprise you were going to show me?' she asked as we walked into an empty street.

'Can you see anyone around?' I asked Arthur.

He quickly looked around.

'Nope,' he said, shaking his head.

'Okay then,' I said, turning to Molly. 'Molly, I'm about to trust you with my biggest secret.'

'What?' Molly said, confused.

I morphed into her.

'AH!' Molly cried, jumping back in shock.

'Don't worry,' I said as her, changing back. 'It's just me.'

'How did you do that?' Molly asked, staring at me in shock.

'Follow me and I'll tell you,' I said, smiling.

As we reached Molly's house a little while later she looked at me.

'So you're part alien?' she asked, impressed.

'Yeah, kinda,' I said, blushing.

'Cool,' she said, smiling. 'And don't worry. I'll keep your secret.'

'Thanks, Molly,' I said, smiling and waving. 'Goodbye.'

Molly smiled, shaking her head and walked into her house.

When we got home we told Mom and Dad about my powers. Turned out they already knew about them. The agency had told them everything when they'd adopted me. D.W. had to promise not to tell anyone or else I'd have to leave. D.W. didn't want me to leave so she promised she wouldn't tell anyone my secret for as long as she lived.

That night, I had the strangest dream. I was crawling on the ground, and everyone was towering over me. And everyone kept talking to me as if I was a baby. I woke up in bed with a start.

'Whoa,' I said, sitting up and shaking my head. 'Now _that_ was a weird dream.'

I went back to sleep, putting the dream out of my mind. I really shouldn't have. It was an omen. An omen of things to come.


End file.
